Remember Me Always
by Ottaline
Summary: Ursa Lestrange knows nothing about magic, until Professor McGonagall shows up at her foster home. Soon, she arrives at Hogwarts, only to discover that she isn't as ordinary as she thought she was – and that may not be a good thing.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, nor do I make any money off this!

Ursa Lestrange had no friends. She had spent every recess since beginning elementary school anxiously considering this fact. Because she lived in a foster home with many other children around her age, she should probably have at least one friend. But she didn't, and everyone seemed to comment on it. Her teacher had written about it on her report card, and her foster mother had written so in her file that Ursa had snuck a look at.

She was thinking about the issue again on the day that everything changed. She was sitting outside the large red brick building that had been her home for the past three years, swinging her legs from where she sat on the garden wall, when she saw a thin, dark-haired woman turn the corner onto her block. She was wearing a smart skirt and matching jacket, the kind business people wore, and had her hair tied up in a neat bun. She caught Ursa's eye as she walked past, and did a sort of double take.

"You must be Miss Lestrange," the woman said. Ursa stared at her. The woman seemed important, and not the type of person Ursa would know, since her world consisted of social workers, foster carers, and other children at her school. She hastily straightened her dress, jumping down off the wall.

"Yes?" she responded, feeling a bit nervous. What could this woman want from her?

"I am here to speak with your foster mother, if she is in," the woman continued, pressing her lips together. Ursa's first impression of this woman was that she must be very strict, and the idea that she wanted to speak with Ursa's foster mother alarmed her. She was suddenly struck with a thought that made a lump appear in her throat. Ursa had always had horrible marks in school, and she was worried this woman was here to tell her foster mother that she was hopeless and she would have to be transferred to a remedial school.

"She's in," Ursa squeaked. The woman walked briskly up the stairs and knocked smartly on the door. Ursa was left standing on the front walk, wondering whether she should follow.

When Ursa's foster mother answered the door, the woman turned to her and called, "Well, aren't you going to come in?" Blushing, she anxious hurried up the front steps, following her foster mother and the business-looking woman to the front room.

Her foster mother indicated for them to sit down. "So you say you're from a school?" Ursa's foster mother asked. Ursa almost groaned aloud. If she was being moved to a new school, she had definitely failed Year 5.

"Yes," the woman explained. "My name is Professor McGonagall, and I'm here representing The School for Gifted Young Women, which Miss Lestrange has been accepted to." There was a long silence in the room, as Ursa's foster mother considered Professor McGonagall.

Finally, she sighed. "You must have the wrong girl. Ursa was bottom of her class last year." She sounded exasperated, as she always did. Ursa's foster mother was always exasperated.

Professor McGonagall's lips thinned again. "Nevertheless, Miss Lestrange has been accepted. I can show you all the details now," she offered. She handed Ursa's foster mother a blank sheet of paper. Instead of laughing, or calling the professor a fraud, her foster mother's eyes seemed to glaze over.

"Yes, alright, I see," she consented.

"You can get back to work now," Professor McGonagall said. "I will be taking Miss Lestrange to obtain her school things this afternoon." Ursa's foster mother left the room, leaving Ursa alone with the professor.

"Miss Lestrange," the professor began. "I am not here representing The School for Gifted Young Women. I am here representing Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but you are to tell your foster mother, social worker, and whoever else inquires that you go to this school for gifted girls." Ursa stared at her. Her first thought was that this woman must be a lunatic, escaped from some sort of hospital ward. But then she thought about all the odd things that seemed to have happened when she was around – when the other children had stolen her stuffed rabbit, years ago, it had appeared that night on her bed, and then when her foster mother neglected to ever pack her lunch, a packet of cookies had always appeared in the pocket of her school uniform.

"I'm a witch?" she asked, seeking confirmation. With Professor McGonagall's nod, a shiver of excitement travelled up her spine. She was a witch! She had always known there was something different about her – something that set her apart from everyone else.

"You have been offered a place at Hogwarts, a school for young witches and wizards to learn magic. It is a boarding school in Scotland. Do you accept the invitation?" She felt uncomfortable under the professor's intense gaze.

"Of course," she answered. There was no way she would give up a chance to get away from her current school, foster mother, and the other children she lived with. But as she answered, a peculiar look came over the professor's face, almost as if she were disappointed.

Nevertheless, Professor McGonagall gave her a nod, explaining, "Today I will be taking you to get your school supplies. School begins on September 1, in about two weeks." She handed Ursa a thick envelope, which was made of a different type of paper then she was used too. The wax seal had a design with four animals surrounding an H.

She carefully pried it open. Inside was an acceptance letter to the school, signed by the professor, and a list of things she would need. She read it in fascination – a wand! These were things she'd only ever read about in books. Suddenly, she felt a spark of distrust. So many times people had promised her great, happy things, which she'd never actually got to experience. This seemed just like the times when her social worker had told her she would be adopted – but no one ever seemed to want her.

"Are you sure you've got the right person, professor?" she asked. "Are you sure I've got magic?"

McGonagall gave her the same piercing stare as earlier. "Quite sure, Miss Lestrange. You would not have received a Hogwarts letter if you had no magic." Well, Ursa certainly hoped that was true, because it would be very embarrassing if she showed up to this school of magic, and wasn't able to perform any.

Soon enough, Professor McGonagall and Ursa were standing on the walkway outside. "We will be going to London today," explained the professor. When Ursa stared at her, shocked, since London would take hours to reach on a train, she elaborated, "We'll be travelling by apparition."

Apparating was not something that turned out to be enjoyable. It felt like Ursa had spent one long, horrible moment inside of a dark tube, and suddenly, she was standing in an alleyway. The sensation had made her feel quite ill, but as she looked around at the new surroundings, she realized that what the professor had told her must be true – magic was real!

The professor led Ursa out onto a regular looking street and into a dingy pub. It was dark inside, with barely any natural light. It was so crowded that Ursa and Professor McGonagall had to shove though to get to the back of the pub.

"Good afternoon, Professor McGonagall!" an elderly man called out from behind the counter. "Muggleborn shopping trips already?" Ursa was too busy staring at a floating mug to hear the professors reply, but soon enough she was hurried through the back door of the pub, into an alley. Ursa stood behind the professor, confused as to what they were going to be doing in an alley behind a pub.

"What is a Muggleborn, Professor?" Ursa asked.

The professor pursed her lips. "A child borne of people who have no magic. Non-magical people are called Muggles." The professor seemed annoyed for some reason.

She understood what they were doing in the alley when Professor McGonagall tapped the wall what must have been a wand, and the bricks in the wall rearranged into an arch. She looked through the arch at an amazing sight. Behind the alley was a bustling street! "How can this be?" she asked, taking in the sight and sound of the street in front of them.

"This, Miss Lestrange, is Diagon Alley," the professor explained, guiding Ursa through the archway. As she half-walked, half-ran behind Professor McGonagall, she noticed the peculiar clothing people were wearing. Everyone was dressed out of older times, with all of the women wearing dresses or skirts, and the men dressed in collared shirts and stiff slacks. Each of them wore a robe overtop of their clothing. She felt rather out of place in only her summer dress.

Their first stop was a clothes shop. Ursa had seen another, nicer one, up the street, but it was not a place where she would expect to buy a uniform. She wondered if it were for the wealthier students of Hogwarts. But these thought of money reminded her of another problem.

"Professor McGonagall, I haven't got any money! How am I going to pay for all of these things? For Hogwarts?"

The professor explained that there was a fund for students without enough money to afford their school things. "You'll have to make do with second hand things," Professor McGonagall explained, almost as if she assumed that Ursa would have a problem with this. But how could she, when everything she'd ever had was second hand?

"Thank you, Professor," Ursa said. "That's very nice."

She was given a number of robes to try on inside the second hand uniform shop, even though the assistant complained that she was very small, and they wouldn't have many robes in her size. Nevertheless, they found her three robes, three collared shirts, and a black uniform dress to go under the robes. She was also given a pair of tights and a couple pairs of knee socks, and a pair of scuffed black shoes. A couple other things were added to the pile, such as a pointed hat, a pair of gloves covered in a scaly material, and a heavy cloak.

Finally, the shop assistant brought them into the back where a number of scuffed looking trunks were piled against the wall. "She can take one of these," the assistant explained. Ursa picked out the one that looked the sturdiest.

Ursa left the shop with her hand guiding her trunk, filled with her school clothes, which the professor had done something to in order to make it float behind her. She was fascinated by this, but also a bit worried that they'd just spent a whole lot of money. "Will I have to pay back Hogwarts one day for all these things?" she inquired.

The professor waved her hand. "Nonsense," she said. "We don't have many children who draw from the fund per year, so it's no trouble."

Next, they got her schoolbooks, which Ursa couldn't wait to look at, especially the book about spells. Then they got her a potions kit, with scales and a cauldron, which were shrunk to fit in her trunk. Last came the most exciting shop, the wand store, which was called Ollivander's. The store looked dark and closed, but when they came in, a man was sitting behind the counter, stacking up a number of thin boxes.

"Aha," he pronounced, coming around to stand in front of them. "Another first-year come to get a wand. You know, I remember every wand I sold –" He broke off abruptly. The owner of the shop and the professor shared a sharp look, and then the man continued, "And I am Ollivander, maker of wands. Who might you be?"

"Um, Ursa Lestrange, sir," she answered, a bit bemused.

Ollivander began rummaging through a stack of the thin boxes that were piled everywhere in the shop – on shelves, on the counter, and on the floor. After a bit, he pulled out a thin box, opening the lid and holding it out for Ursa. Inside was a thin, shiny wand.

"Hawthorn, unicorn tail hair," he explained. "Give it a wave."

Uncertainly, she picked it up and swished it through the air. Flames appeared on the countertop. The professor quickly waved her own wand and the fire was gone. Ursa took a step backwards, shocked. "I'm so sorry," she apologized.

"No, no, not for you," Ollivander said, snatching the wand from her and placing it back in its box. "You know, Miss Lestrange, that the wand chooses the witch or wizard, so we must find one that chooses you." He went back to looking through the piles of boxes.

"Try this one – elm and dragon heartstring." Ursa was given another wand to try out, but this one caused a shelf to collapse. "Better," Ollivander commented, and gave her a few more to try. None of these seemed to work either, until he brought out a dusty black box.

"Maybe," murmured Ollivander, followed by, "I wouldn't be surprised." He ran a finger up and down the box, before handing it to Ursa carefully.

She opened it carefully and looked at the wand inside. It was longer than the others had been, and of a dark, shiny color. As soon as she waved it, she understood that this was the wand for her. It filled her with a warm, secure feeling and a gust of wind swirl around her. For a moment, a dull, warm light seemed to be emanating from the wand.

"There it is," Ollivander said. "That is the wand for you, is it not?" Ursa nodded. "It is walnut, with a dragon heartstring core. Very stiff – good for counter-curses, actually." He sounded surprised.

She was so enthralled with the new wand that she could only murmur, "Thank you." She clutched the wand as the professor paid, and it wasn't until they were back in the street that the professor reminded her that it would be best if she kept it in the box.

"After all, you don't know how to use it yet," the professor warned.

It seemed like such a shame when she was returned back to the foster home. She couldn't wait till the day she would get on the train to go to Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall had explain that she would have to catch the train from London, but since her foster mother would be too busy with the other ten children in the house, she would have to take another train into London early in the morning.

Every night, she counted down the days till she would get to leave. Soon enough, the night before dawned, and she knew that she wouldn't sleep a wink. After her evening chores were done, and the other children were asleep, she packed her trunk in the dark room she shared with four other girls. She had to be careful not to wake them, so the only light she had to see came from the street lamp outside the window.

All that she really had was packed into the trunk. She didn't have that many clothes so she figured she would take her grey uniform dress from the year before, and the one collared shirt she had to go with it. She didn't bother taking her pair of pants, since all the other girls in Diagon Alley had been wearing skirts or dresses. The only other clothes she had were her summer dress and her night dress, so her trunk ended up miserably empty. Ursa hesitated before packing the raggedy stuffed rabbit she'd had since before she could remember, but she was so worried that if she left it at the foster home, it would end up destroyed or stolen by another child.

She ended up having to walk to the train station herself in the early hours of the morning, and the spell the professor had placed on her trunk had worn off. It took so long to walk to the station that she feared she would miss the train and be late for Hogwarts, but she made it just on time. The station assistant had been friendly enough, stowing her trunk on board for her, and inquiring, "Off to school, are you?" It must have been evident, since she had decided to wear her old school uniform, which went with the black shoes from Diagon Alley.

She wanted to look like a witch when she got to the Hogwarts train, so she had found an old leather over the shoulder bag in the basement of her foster home. The strap was broken, and she'd had to sew it back together, so she figured her foster mother wouldn't miss it. She hadn't seen anyone with backpacks in Diagon Alley, so she had left hers at home. She had one of the plain black school robes folded up in her bag to put on when she got to Platform 9 ¾, as it said on her ticket.

She was too excited to sleep on the train into London. She stared nervously out the window, heart in her throat. No one had liked her at her old school, so why would people at Hogwarts like her any better? These thoughts plagued her until the train pulled into King's Cross Station. After that, she was too nervous about finding the right platform that those thoughts stopped.

A station assistant helped her place her trunk on a trolley, and which she struggled to push towards Platform 9. The wheels of the trolley kept spinning, so it was hard to keep it going in one direction. Finally, a voice came from behind her. "First year at Hogwarts?" a boy's voice asked.

She looked up from her trolley, a bit nervous. Someone from Hogwarts was speaking to her! "Y-yes," she stammered. "You?" The boy who'd addressed her was tall, and much older than her. He looked like he would be good at sports.

He nodded. "I'm Marcus Flint. You?" He said it in a certain way that made it seem like he was testing her.

"Ursa Lestrange," she answered, quietly.

"Need a hand with that trolley?" he asked. "Seems a bit heavy for a slight thing like you." She blushed, but nodded. He picked up her trunk and put it atop his trolley, balanced on top of his trunk. She hurried after him as he confidently steered it towards Platform 9, one hand clutching the handle of his trolley. She became alarmed when he didn't make any move to slow down as he approached the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10. She was about to shout for him to stop, as she was sure they were going to crash, when they seemed to go right through it.

On the other side of the barrier was another platform, which must have been Platform 9 ¾. Her heart racing, Ursa looked around the platform at the families dropping their children off to catch the train to Hogwarts. Many were dressed in the same type of clothes she'd seen in Diagon Alley, though some were wearing normal-looking jeans and t-shirts. Marcus Flint helped her put her trunk in an empty compartment, and then left to go find his friends. She thanked him profusely: she wasn't used to help from anyone.

She was a bit early, so it was awhile before the train pulled out of the station. After pulling on her robe, she watched the platform outside the window of her compartment. There was a large family, all with redhead children, with a girl that looked about her age, though she ended up staying behind on the platform as the other, older boys boarded the train. There was an elderly woman with a stuffed bird perched on her hat. She looked annoyed at the boy she was accompanying.

Soon enough, the door of her compartment swung open. It was a rather heavy-set boy. "Hullo," he said. "I'm Gregory Goyle. Who are you?" Ursa thought he seemed very direct.

"Ursa Lestrange," she answered.

His face seemed to clear. "Can I sit with you?" he asked. "Most of the other compartments have older students in them."

"Sure," she said, pleased. Usually she sat alone on the bus whenever her school had gone on trips. It was nice that someone wanted to sit with her. He sat across from her, and then there was a period of silence. Ursa could tell they were both uncomfortable, but she had always been bad with conversation.

Finally, Goyle broke the silence. "Did you hear that they have someone come around on the train, selling sweets? My mum gave me some knuts to buy some." He sounded pleased.

"Oh," Ursa responded. "I didn't know – I didn't bring any money." She didn't have any money anyways, so it didn't matter. Soon enough, the train was pulling out of the station. Goyle waved goodbye to a rather large woman on the platform.

"That's my mum," he explained. Ursa nodded, thinking it must be nice to have someone to send you off to school.

At first, the two of them contented themselves with looking out the window. Ursa watched the scenery fly by, wondering how long the journey was going to take. After all, Professor McGonagall had never said. About half an hour into their journey, a boy opened the door of the compartment.

He was heavy-set, like Goyle, and Ursa thought they looked remarkably similar. "Greg!" he exclaimed. "I've been looking for you everywhere!" He took a seat beside Ursa and across from Goyle. "Who's this?" he asked, noticing her.

"Ursa Lestrange," grunted Goyle.

The other boy nodded. "I'm Vincent Crabbe," he introduced himself. "Greg and I know each other because our dads play Quidditch together. Right, Greg?"

Ursa presumed that Quidditch was some sort of sport. "They must be very athletic," she said, hoping she wasn't making a fool of herself but wanting to say something.

Goyle and Crabbe agreed happily, and began a passionate discussion of the subject, while Ursa went back to looking out the window. It wasn't until they were interrupted by another boy opening the compartment door that anything interesting happened.

The boy who came in was very pale, like Ursa, but in contrast to her black hair, he had hair that was almost white. He had a very superior look about him, something that she was used to associating with the wealthy children at her old school. "Vince and Greg!" he exclaimed. "I've been looking for you everywhere! I had to sit with a bunch of Mudbloods because I couldn't find you guys." He flopped into the seat beside Goyle. "Who are you?" he asked Ursa.

"Ursa Lestrange," she said for what felt like the hundredth time that day. She wondered whether it was a magical custom to abruptly ask someone's name whenever you met them, and what a Mudblood was.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Draco Malfoy," the boy drawled. "Seems like this is the compartment to be in! Have you heard that Harry Potter is on the train?"

"Huh," Goyle said, not seeming very excited. Malfoy, on the other hand, seemed very excited about this Harry Potter. The boys talked about Quidditch for a bit, before Malfoy convinced Crabbe and Goyle to come with him to search for Harry Potter.

"Coming?" Malfoy asked, but Ursa stayed behind. She did not know who Harry Potter was, and was so used to having her things stolen, she didn't feel comfortable leaving her trunk unsupervised on the train.

So she sat alone until a girl with frizzy hair and the boy who had been with the woman with the stuffed bird hat knocked on the door of her compartment. "Have you seen a toad?" the girl asked.

A toad? She shook her head. The boy, who was a bit chubby, seemed to be studying her intensely. "Well, Neville's lost his," the girl said. The boy, who must have been Neville, looked uncomfortable.

"Let's go, Hermione," he said, giving Ursa a worried look. They left quickly, leaving her wondering why the boy had seemed to want to get away from her. No matter, she decided. More people had been nicer to her today than in the last year, so she wasn't complaining if one person seemed to dislike her.

Soon after, Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy were back, seeming annoyed about something. They grumbled about the Harry Potter person for a bit, but then the trolley with sweets came around, which distracted them. The three boys bought a whole bunch of something called Chocolate Frogs.

She watched in fascination as they opened the packages and caught the frogs as they jumped out. She realized that they were made of chocolate, but must be spelled to jump around. Goyle must have mistaken her stare for wishing to have a chocolate, because he offered one to her.

"Oh, no," she stammered. "It's alright." She wasn't used to being offered sweets by other children. Goyle waved a hand.

"Go ahead, I've got lots."

"Thanks," she said, carefully catching one as she opened its package. She noticed a card inside the package as she ate the frog. There was a woman on the card, with long flowing hair. She stared as she realized that the woman's hair was rippling with the wind – on the printed card! She flipped it over. There was a description on the back, indicating that the woman on the card was a witch called Circe. She slipped the card into the pocket of her dress, glad to own something magical.

"Look, I got three Dumbledores," complained Malfoy. He had chocolate smeared on his lips. Apparently Dumbledore was a common card, since Crabbe and Goyle readily agreed, complaining that they had many of his cards.

It was dark when the train pulled into the station. Ursa felt a thrill of excitement. She had been wondering what Hogwarts looked like, and now she would find out.

Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, nor do I make money off of this!

Ursa stepped off the train with Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy. The platform was dark, but it was illuminated by light from a torch held up by an enormous man. He was calling for the first years to follow him, so they pushed through the crowd of robed students towards him. She was separated from the three boys in the chaos of things, but managed to join the crowd of smaller students in front of the large man, who introduced himself as Hagrid.

He led them to a dock, which jutted out over a dark lake. The other students in front of her began stepping off the dock into small boats, which held three or four students each. She was a bit worried, because she couldn't swim, but stepped into a boat with a couple of other girls. Without any movement from the students, it began moving away from the dock.

She was thankful for the lamp at the prow of the boat that illuminated the area around them. She was sure that without it, it would be so dark that she wouldn't be able to see the other girls' faces. They didn't speak, probably because they were so awed by the sight that soon met their eyes.

A huge castle appeared before them, and it seemed as if all the windows were lit up in welcome. It was an amazing sight, and awoke a feeling in Ursa that she was sure she'd never experienced before. As the boats pulled closer and closer to the magnificent castle, she had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

Soon, they were stepping out of the boats and onto dry land. Professor McGonagall had been there to meet them on the other side of the lake, bringing them into the castle. It was lit up by torches on the walls, providing the inside of the building with an eerie, flickering light. She stood with the rest of the students as the professor explained that they would be sorted into different houses.

The idea seemed familiar to her. She thought she'd heard Malfoy talking about it on the train, but she had been looking at her new Chocolate Frog Card. Professor McGonagall explained that they were to be sorted into one of four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. She didn't, however, elaborate on how they would be sorted into houses, which made Ursa a bit nervous. What if she had to complete some sort of quiz in front of all the older students? The one time she'd had to do something like that she'd miserably failed at her elementary school's spelling bee.

Professor McGonagall then left, informing them that she would be back soon enough to bring them to be sorted. Ursa was just trying to calm herself down, when shouts from behind her made her jump. Transparent, floating people - she assumed they were ghosts - had just appeared by the wall. She wondered whether they'd actually traveled through it. She wished that someone had warned her about all these new things, since it was becoming hard to absorb all the new information.

Too soon, McGonagall returned to the room where they were waiting. The nervous murmurs that had been going through the crowd of students silenced, as the professor ordered them to make a line and follow her. The marched silently behind her, until they came to a large set of doors. These opened automatically, giving the new students a magnificent view of the Great Hall of Hogwarts.

It reminded Ursa of the inside of a church, only larger. The hall was illuminated by floating, flickering candles, showing four long tables where the students were sitting. The most amazing thing of all was the ceiling – it showed the dark, night sky above. She was marched up to the front of the hall with the other students, critically aware of the stares of the older students.

What happened next was so absurd that Ursa seriously considered the fact that she might be dreaming, for maybe the tenth time that day. The professor placed a stool, on top of which perched a hat, in front of the students. Then, music emanated from the hat. Or, specifically, a rip in the hat that kind of looked like a mouth. It sang a song about the different houses, which Ursa tried to catch. Apparently, Gryffindor was for brave people, Hufflepuffs were patient and loyal, Ravenclaw was for smart people, and Slytherin for cunning people. Ursa swallowed, realizing that none of these descriptions really fit her – what would happen if they decided she didn't belong anywhere?

Apparently the hat decided which house you went to. After the song was finished, Professor McGonagall called the first student's name.

"Abbott, Hannah!" The girl called Hannah was sorted into Hufflepuff. Ursa watched as each of the other children went up to the front to be sorted. Her legs felt like jelly when the professor called her name.

"Lestrange, Ursa!" She stumbled forwards and sat down on the stool as everyone else had, gingerly bringing the hat to her head.

The hat did not say anything to her. As soon as it made contact with her hair, it shouted, "SLYTHERIN". She felt a bit cheated, but she dutifully replaced the hat, and quickly went to the table with green ties. There were three girls who had already been sorted into Slytherin before her, as well as Crabbe and Goyle. She took her seat beside a freckled girl with scraggly blonde hair, and across from another girl, who was a bit heavy-set. In the background, there was laughter, and she realized that the boy who was looking for a toad on the train had forgotten to put the hat back after his sorting.

None of them spoke until all the students were sorted. There were ten students in total in Slytherin in their year – five girls and five boys. The headmaster of the school stood up after the school was done, and made a little speech. To end it, he exclaimed, "Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

"Nutters!" Ursa heard Draco Malfoy mutter from down the table. And then there was suddenly the most food she'd ever seen in her life. Platters with mountains of vegetables, all different types of meat and fish, and steaming bowls of pasta; you name it, it was there. The blonde girl passed her a plate of potatoes. She could still see the butter melting on top. It seemed like all they'd ever served at her foster home were grilled cheese and tomato pasta, so she dug into her food happily.

Malfoy seemed to notice this, commenting, "Never seen food before, Lestrange?" But his teasing wasn't bad, not like the teasing at her old school, so she just smiled and waved it off.

After they'd all eaten about a plate of food, the dark-haired girl addressed the other first year students. "So," she said. Ursa could tell from one word that she had the same sneering tone that many of the students at her old school had used with her. "Hopefully no Mudbloods in our year, then?" That word again! Ursa still didn't know what it meant, though she was now sure that it was offensive.

A girl with mousy brown hair and glasses turned scarlet. The dark-haired girl, whom Ursa thought was named Pansy, smirked. "Thought so." Ursa wanted to stand up for this other girl, but she didn't want to draw that kind of attention to herself. She'd spent the last five years being shoved and teased in the hallways, and she didn't want a reprise.

"Must be awful, growing up with Muggles," Malfoy drawled. "I wouldn't stand for it." So that's what it meant, Ursa realized. Someone who'd been raised by Muggles! They obviously didn't like Mudbloods, so there was no way she was letting on that she was one herself! "Personally," Malfoy continued. "I grew up in Wiltshire, with my parents. How about you guys?"

The heavy-set girl across from her snorted. "Not all of us grew up in a mansion with peacocks roaming the grounds, Malfoy." She shook her head. "I live with my dad in London. He works for Ludo Bagman. Oh! By the way, I'm Millie." Everyone except for the girl with glasses and Ursa seemed to know who this was, nodding.

The next person to speak, the blonde girl, who was named Daphne, explained that she lived with her parents, both magical, and her little sister. Pansy, the girl who'd been mean to the mousy girl with glasses, boasted about how her mother designed robes for Twilfitt & Tatting's, and how she was pureblood (obviously). Crabbe and Goyle talked about their fathers' Quidditch careers, and then a boy called Blaise explained that lived with his mother and fifth stepfather, who were both magical.

That left a boy with a thin face, the mousy girl and Ursa. There was a brief silence before Pansy, who Ursa was beginning to think was obnoxious, said, "Well we all know you live with your dad, Theodore." The thin faced boy stared at her. "I hope his mental state has improved." There was another period of silence. Ursa was horrified. Had this girl just made fun of the fact Theodore's father was unstable?

But then she turned to Ursa. They had a brief moment of eye contact, and she felt the familiar sinking feeling she associated with school. So much for being anonymous at her new school, she thought. "And we all know who your mother is!" Daphne and Pansy snickered, as if they found this funny, but it seemed everyone else had gone rather white. The girl with glasses stared at her, bewildered.

"Leave her alone, Pansy," Malfoy said. Pansy blushed, and abruptly turned to the mousy girl, clearly embarrassed that Malfoy had told her off. She began speaking to the Mudblood girl, probably saying something mean.

But Ursa had toned everything out. Pansy had said something about her mother – Ursa's mother! But Ursa had never known her mother. Her foster mother had told her that she'd been found in a box on the doorstep of a police station, her name pinned to the blanket, with her old stuffed rabbit tucked in beside her. How did everyone know who her mother was, when Ursa herself didn't even know?

She was in a daze for the rest of the meal, her emotions about the subject too conflicted for her to enjoy the sweets. She had always wondered about her mother, and Pansy had said is. She'd said "we all know who your mother is", not was. Was would have meant that Ursa's mother was dead, but is meant she was alive. But where was she? Why hadn't she taken care of her?

These thoughts plagued her for the rest of the meal, until it was time for them to go to their new living quarters. The first years followed one of the prefects through the stone corridors of Hogwarts, down so many flights of stairs, and around so many corridors towards the dungeons, where the Slytherins apparently lived. She was quite worried that she would never be able to find her way back to the Great Hall.

The Slytherin common room was a large room with torches for light. Large stained glass-windows with fish that actually moved across them covered the back wall, and a huge fireplace bordered by little skulls dominated the other wall. Lots of chairs and couches littered the room, with dark carpets covering the floors. Ursa thought it was quite neat.

One of the female prefects indicated for them to take a seat in front of the fireplace, while the older students made their way up to the dormitories. These were up sets of stairs on the right and left hand sides of the room.

It wasn't until she sat down that she realized how tired she was. Her body felt heavy, and her eyes threatened to close. However, just as her eyes slipped shut, she was jerked awake by the sudden presence of an adult.

"First years," greeted a professor, who was all dressed in black. "Welcome to Slytherin House. I am Professor Snape, and I will be your head of house. Any concerns, whether it be academic or personal," he said this as if it pained him, "can be brought to me. You are expected to obey the Hogwarts rules, and there will be dire consequences if you bring shame to this house. I repeat Headmaster Dumbledore's warning: do not access the third floor corridor. In addition, if I find you out of bed after curfew, you will be in detention with Filch before you can say Mrs. Scower's Magical Mess Remover. Am I understood?"

The first years nodded silently. Professor Snape left abruptly. Ursa had always wondered why certain people worked with children, when they were clearly so uncomfortable around them. Her foster mother had been the same.

Her first glimpse of the dormitory thrilled her. She had never seen such luxurious beds. They were so unlike the uncomfortable cots they'd slept on at her last home. She took the farthest bed from the door, which already had her trunk placed at the end. Exhausted, and ready for bed, she quickly went through her nightly routine.

Just as she was climbing into bed, listening to a few of the other girls whisper to each other, she noticed that Daphne was setting up a stuffed bear (much nicer than her stuffed rabbit) on her bed. Pleased, she went to grab her rabbit from her trunk. For fear that she would be teased, she'd been hiding it for the past year.

Then something amazing happened. When she placed her rabbit against the pillow of her bed, it went from being a raggedy, limp thing, to being good as new. Just like that! She stroked its velvety fur in amazement. Her rabbit was magical. After all, she'd had it since she'd been abandoned at the police station, so if her mother gave it to her, it could mean her mother might be a witch! She inspected the shiny ribbon around its neck – she thought it may have had one when she was very young as well. Written in cursive on the ribbon, in black writing, was the phrase: _remember me always._ What could it mean?

She dreamt of terrible things that night. Flashes of red light and yelling plagued her, and she woke up just as she was torn from somebody's arms. It was a miserable thing to wake up from, her forehead sweaty, clutching her repaired rabbit.

But the excitement of the first day of classes soon swept the dream away. They had most of their classes with the Gryffindors, which was the house with the red ties. Their first class was Herbology, which was actually with the Ravenclaws. Professor Sprout, a short woman with robes that looked like they were made out of gardening gloves, spent the first class explaining about how to care for plants. It seemed quite straightforward to Ursa, which she was glad of, as she'd never been particularly good in school. Millie, sitting beside her, seemed a little annoyed.

"I thought we were going to learn about exciting things," she complained, under her breath to Ursa. "Like the Whomping Willow. My dad told me about that."

Millie, whose full name was Millicent Bulstrode, seemed really nice. Ursa ended up walking with her from Herbology, which had taken place in one of the greenhouses outside the castle, to History of Magic. Millie seemed to really like sports, as she talked about Quidditch quite a bit. At one point, as they were entering the doors to the castle, she asked Ursa about which team she supported.

"Um," Ursa managed to stammer out, her face heating up, "I don't really know much about sports."

"I thought so!" laughed Millie. "Since you didn't say anything all the way from the greenhouses! I hope I'm not boring you."

"No, no," Ursa assured her. "It's actually interesting, but I've always been rubbish at sports."

Millie laughed again, receiving a glare from a prefect who was passing them in the hallway. Ursa was glad that someone seemed to like being in her company. "It's because you have no muscle," she explained. "You must worry about getting blown away when you ride a broom."

A broom? Ursa needed to find the library after classes so she could read up on Quidditch, and everything else she didn't know about the wizarding world. She also needed to see where she could get information about her mother, since the other Slytherins seemed to know who she was. The dilemma, she thought, as she sat down next to Millie in the History of Magic classroom, was that if she asked anyone, they would know that she was a Mudblood. After all, she had been raised by Muggles.

History of Magic ended up being quite boring, but Ursa realized that this might be a very important class for her to pay attention to. She would reveal herself as a Mudblood if she didn't have critical knowledge about the wizarding world. The teacher of this class ended up being a ghost. She was still getting used to the idea of ghosts, because her foster mother had always dismissed the ghost stories that the older children told as fake. She had always believe that there could be no such thing.

Yet, here she sat, in a dusty classroom, listening to a ghost lecture on the curriculum for the upcoming schoolyear. Apparently they were going to begin with the founding of Hogwarts. This seemed like an interesting concept, but after an hour of listening to the ghost, Professor Binns, most of the class was asleep. Still Ursa had tried to stay awake, and had been rewarded with the knowledge that Hogwarts had been a sanctuary for students who had been persecuted because they had magic. That being said, it seemed that Professor Binns had talked endlessly about where Godric Gryffindor grew up, and his life in general. It seemed weird because he was supposed to be talking to a class of Ravenclaws and Slytherins.

When the class was over, Ursa had to poke Millie awake. The class proceeded down to the Great Hall for lunch, where a delicious spread of food was waiting for them. Unfortunately, the conversation did not prove as good as the food. Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson took the opportunity to have another go at the mousy girl, who they'd determined to be a Mudblood. Ursa had learned that morning at breakfast that her name was Lisa.

"I think they shouldn't let anyone other than the old pureblood families into Hogwarts," Malfoy drawled. Ursa watched Lisa's face go red across the table from her. She sympathized, since she had felt the same way Lisa must feel at her old school. But she wasn't about to jeopardize the first real friend she'd ever had. After all, Millie was starting to feel like a friend.

"Who asked you, Malfoy," muttered Lisa, still blushing.

Pansy Parkinson giggled. "So, the Mudblood talks!" Ursa clenched her fists under the table. She wished Parkinson and Malfoy weren't at Hogwarts with them, seeing as all the other Slytherins seemed to be quiet and respectful of others.

"They're not a part of our culture," Malfoy went on, ignoring Lisa. "They don't understand our traditions."

There was a silence that seemed to stretch over the table. No one seemed to know what to say. Finally, it became unbearable, and Ursa found herself speaking, even though she was usually a very quiet person.

"Do you collect Chocolate Frog Cards?" she blurted out. The group of first years stared at her like she'd gone insane. This was something the wizarding children did, she reminded herself. She knew for sure that Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle did, so it wasn't as if they could discover her ignorance of the wizarding world from her question.

The thin-faced boy, Theodore, grinned a bit. "Sure I do," he said, spreading jam on a piece of bread. "I've got a whole box of them at home."

Parkinson looked irritated. Ursa was sure she was mad because she wanted to continue to make fun of Lisa, but Ursa had moved to conversation away. Millie, thankfully, joined the conversation as well.

"I have a lot too, doesn't everyone? Who's your favorite?" she asked Ursa.

She was relieved that she'd looked over the card she'd gotten from her Chocolate Frog box on the train. "Circe," she said.

"Mine's Merlin," Millie said, but before she could explain further, Parkinson laughed.

"Of course you like Circe," she said. "Got hair like your mum's, doesn't she?" The woman on the Circe card had thick black hair. Ursa, too, had masses of black hair, held back now by a hairband.

The table went silent. "I told you to shut up about that, Pansy!" Malfoy said, clearly annoyed. Parkinson sniffed.

"Well, it's true!" she protested.

Millie, Ursa and Theodore left soon after, heading to Transfiguration, which would be with Professor McGonagall. Millie and Theodore chatted about Quidditch as they made their way along the twisting hallways of Hogwarts, but Ursa had her mind on what Parkinson had said.

How did the other girl know what her mother looked like? There were so many questions Ursa needed answering, but she didn't know who she could ask without revealing that she was a Mudblood. It was annoying that someone like Parkinson knew her mother somehow, when Ursa had never known any of her family. Until her mother had been mentioned the day before, she'd basically given up on the idea that she could have a family out there. Now, though, she needed to know more. It had always bothered her greatly that she'd been abandoned, but now she had the chance to find out why.

They had Transfiguration with the Gryffindors. Ursa's first impression of Professor McGonagall was confirmed – she was very strict. And with the Gryffindors, this seemed needed. They whispered constantly through the class, and the professor was always telling them off. On the other side of the room, the Slytherins quietly took notes.

Ursa's heart sank when she saw the complicated notes appear on the board. The professor had waved her wand, and suddenly the blackboard was filled with complicated numbers and diagrams. She was terrible at maths, and she realized she was probably going to be very bad at this too. Near the end of class, Professor McGonagall distributed matches, which they were supposed to try to turn into needles.

She stared at the blackboard, confused. She could not see the connection between the diagrams on the blackboard and the match. In the end, only the Gryffindor girl who had helped the boy find his toad on the train succeeded in changing her match.

Her head hurt as she trailed behind the other Slytherins on their way to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Malfoy was complaining loudly about the injustice of Professor McGonagall only awarding points to "that Mudblood Gryffindor!" even though none of the Slytherins had turned their match into a needle.

Professor Quirrell taught Defense, which is what everyone seemed to call Defense Against the Dark Arts. He was the oddest adult Ursa had ever met. He had a large purple turban, which was weird enough, but even odder was the smell the permeated the classroom. She'd watched Malfoy's face when he'd step in the classroom, and it had been almost comical as he'd wrinkled his nose.

She took the seat beside Malfoy at the front of the class, which was a bad idea, in retrospect. Quirrell stuttered through the lesson, but his eyes seemed to be fixed on the Slytherin side of the classroom. His eyes seemed to bore into her, so she kept her eyes focused on her lap. It was a relief to get out of the strange-smelling classroom, but when they got back to their common room, a prefect notified the group of first-years that they would be having mandatory study group until dinner.

Apparently this was mandated by Professor Snape, so there was no getting out of it. It was too bad, because she had wanted to go to the library. By the time they left for dinner, her neck ached from pouring over her Transfiguration notes, although they made no more sense than they had two hours ago.

After dinner, she nervously approached a prefect while the other first-years played Exploding Snap in the corner of the common room. The prefect indicated that it was fine if she went to the library, but she should be careful to be back by curfew. She listened to the directions the prefect gave her, feeling lost already.

However, she was determined to find out who her mother had been, so she set off towards the library, trying to remember the directions the best she could. Fortunately, she made it, although it probably took her a lot longer than it should have. Hogwarts had long and winding corridors, each one was indistinguishable from the next.

The bushy-haired Mudblood girl, who she was pretty sure was called Hermione, was already sitting at one of the tables at the front of the library. That was surprising, since the older Slytherins had been saying that the Gryffindors were the least studious of all the houses. Ursa was not looking to study, however, and she felt too intimidated to approach the librarian, who looked like a very severe woman. Instead, she wandered about the library, thinking that there must be an archive section somewhere. Sure enough, after getting lost among the bookcases a couple of times, she found a circular room at the very end of the library. It had floor to ceiling drawers, each one labelled with a year.

There was a tall ladder that allowed students to reach to older years at the very top, but she only needed to climb a few rungs to reach 1979. She knew that she'd been born on December 24, 1979, because it had been written on the card with her name, which had been pinned to her blanket when she had been abandoned. Ursa figured that there might have been a birth announcement in the paper, maybe on Christmas Day. The inside of the drawer marked 1979 was much larger than it looked. She was still amazed by things like this.

She pulled out the newspaper for December 25th. It appeared to be in pristine condition, and amazingly, the pictures on the front page were moving. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised – why wouldn't magic be able to do this? The headline read _Bones Family Massacred in Home,_ which she stared at for a bit. She thought there might be a girl called Susan Bones in her year. The story was very terrible. She hadn't known that the Wizarding World had this much violence. For some reason, she'd thought it might have had less than the Muggle World.

She moved onto the birth section. Sure enough, right above the obituary for the Bones family, was a short notice announcing the birth of Lestrange, Ursa A., who had been born the evening before. It stated that her parents' names were Rodolphus Lestrange and Bellatrix Black Lestrange, and that she had been born in London. That was it, but at least she now knew her parents' names.

She figured there would probably be nothing else about them in the newspaper. After all, why would a newspaper report about two random people? Still, she had always wondered why she'd been abandoned, left on the steps of a police station when she was only a baby. Out of curiosity, she pulled open the drawer for 1981, after replacing the newspaper for Christmas 1979. She had been abandoned on November 5, 1981, which she'd learned about when she'd snuck into her elementry school's office to read her file.

She almost fainted when she saw the headline: "Attack on Longbottom Family: Crouch, Lestranges Implicated". She tried to swallow, and found she couldn't. She'd been secretly hoping to find some nice, distant relative, but it seemed that her parents had – she skimmed the first few lines of the article – tortured people.

Ursa studied the picture on the front of the newspaper. Sure enough, the woman leering out of the prison photograph was clearly related to her – they had the same mass of black hair, and dark eyes.

Thank you for reading :)


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